Your Opinion: Response to congressman

Dear Editor:

I know Congressman Luetkemeyer gets an incredible number of letters from constituents, so I was pleased with the quick response I received from him in May.

I had asked that he support a carbon fee and dividend as the most efficient solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I was not surprised that his response was a form letter, but I did find it terribly disturbing that a U.S. Congressman could have so many facts wrong.

Luetkemeyer wrote, "climate change is one of the most hotly debated issues concerning the environment and politics." The fact that 97 percent of climate scientists and 195 nations signed the Paris Climate Agreement shows there is consensus that climate change is a serious public threat that we need to address.

Congressman Luetkemeyer wrote, "climate science is in its relative infancy." The fact is that in 1859 John Tyndall documented how carbon dioxide heats the atmosphere and coined the term "greenhouse gas."

Luetkemeyer wrote, "All policies that involve climate change should pass three vital tests: they must work environmentally, they must be economically sound, and they must be practical." He stated none of the proposed solutions, a cap-and-trade system, a carbon tax and complete EPA regulation of carbon emissions pass any of these tests. This is simply not true.

With the help of a carbon tax, Sweden reduced 1990 carbon emissions 9 percent by 2006. During that same time, they experienced a 44 percent economic growth. Globally, Sweden is the second-most economically competitive nation in the world.

In 2009, 10 Northeastern states implemented a cap-and-trade system called Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which is another example of successfully satisfying all three of Luetkemeyer's conditions. At the first evaluation in 2011, the RGGI had improved the states' economies by $1.6 billion and is credited for creating 16,000 jobs. RGGI reduced 2008 CO2 emissions by 30 percent between 2011 and 2013.

I could agree that regulations may not pass all of Luetkemeyer's tests, but carbon pricing in the form of carbon taxes or cap and trade have proven successful at reducing emissions while being economically sound, which makes them very practical.

The fact is that if we care about our future, we must address climate change. And it is a fact that we have good options.

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